WHEN police chiefs found she was innocent, they apologised and vindicated the PC and asked her to return with full back pay.

A POLICE officer was forced to resign after a colleague allegedly called Crimestoppers to try to smear her.

The PC was told to quit after she was falsely accused of being in the pocket of gangsters.

When police chiefs discovered she was innocent three months later, they asked her to return with full back pay.

The law graduate received a personal apology from then chief constable Campbell Corrigan after being summoned to Strathclyde Police HQ.

The 27-year-old was reinstated and quizzed as part of a probe into the conduct of Superintendent Steven Reed.

Reed has been suspended for the past year and a report into alleged criminality is still being considered by Crown Office prosecutors.

The ex-PC’s career in the force was ruined after she unwittingly found herself in the company of gangland twins Bryan and James Hanlon, 30, during a night out in February 2012.

The Hanlon twins

She reported it to her boss and a Professional Standards Unit probe cleared her of wrongdoing.

She said: “It was a chance encounter. I was socialising and I realised there were people there who were known to the police and I flagged it up straight away.

“In July, my boss told me the PSU had finished their investigation and would not be taking action.”

But the probe was reopened the following month – 24 hours before her probationary period was due to end. The former officer understands a malicious call about her was made to Crimestoppers around this time but does not know who made it.

She added: “My boss said that further allegations had come to light and another investigation would be carried out. He said that, as a result, my probation period was going to be extended.

“I had no idea what was being alleged or whether it was new. I was shocked.”

In November 2012, she was ordered to quit her job.

Steven Reed

She said: “I was served a ‘notice of intention to resign’ letter. I was panicking because I’d not been given information about what had been said about me. I was told they could not take the risk that I was more involved.

“It was all very vague. I had no idea what they thought they had on me.

“I was gutted when I was forced to resign because it shattered me and my family. It was such a big embarrassment. No one could believe it.

“I would never do anything lacking integrity or associate with criminals.”

Three months later, the officer was astonished when the police asked her to return.

She was taken to the office of Corrigan – who has since retired – and given an apology.

She was told she could pick which area she wanted to work in and given three months’ back pay.

The rookie officer then underwent a private ceremony in his office when she took her police oath.

She said: “When I got an apology from Campbell Corrigan, he didn’t give me any more information. He just said that a wrong decision had been made.

“I was told that they couldn’t tell me more because of the ongoing investigation.

“I went back because I wanted to clear my name and wanted people to know I hadn’t done anything wrong.”

The PC was then questioned for 12 hours by Lothian and Borders detectives leading the probe into Reed, 37. He had served with West Midlands and Lothian and Borders before joining Strathclyde.

The ex-PC said: “They wanted to know everything that had happened from the start to when I was reinstated.”

She chose to work in Dumbarton but, after six months, decided to quit.

She said: “When I returned, I had mixed feelings about whether this was the right career for me.

“People wanted to know what had happened but I had been told that I wasn’t allowed to say anything.

“They said that was because of the criminal investigation but I think it suited them that this was kept quiet.

“After everything that had happened, my heart just wasn’t in it.”

We can also reveal that a female superintendent is facing a wilful misconduct probe. It is alleged that she failed to act on information relating to Reed and the unnamed officer.